Ski Area: Snowbird
Dates: November 17, 2012
Conditions: 30" base, MG/PP/FG
Weather: Cloudy with rain/snow showers at the base; snow above Mid-Gad lodge, temps in the 30's.
Report No: 1
It begins. This year the season snuck up on me as it always does. We left the house...and returned...and left again because we forgot something. You all know how it is on the first day.
We got to Creekside and found a temp of 42 F and some light snow/sprinkles. Before getting on the lift, it turned to all sprinkles at the base (7700 feet or so) and I wisely switched to Gore Tex hard shell. My wife was in hers as well. We both stayed dry and warm while our friend was a bit soggy in her soft shell.
First run off of Gadzoom was down Bassackwards. The cover was noticeably better than last season at this time and the trails were holding up well. On one run we rode up with a snowcat operator that told us that he had been busy during the summer installing new snowmaking equipment and helping with the new Little Cloud HSQ. He said that they had added another pump and bought some new fan guns and other equipment. For whatever reason they had not said a word about these improvements.
After his comment, I noticed that on Gad Valley alone that they had twice as many fan guns running as last season and a few new ones in the mix. Next run was down Lunch Run, which was pretty well covered as well but had a chokepoint right after Regulator Gully where a fan gun was working its magic. As is the case with early season, we rotated between Lunch Run and Bassackwards as those were the two groomers open off of Gadzoom...natural runs though covered were still bony.
We decided to head over for a tram run and opted to hit Regulator Johnson. The visibility was low, but the snow was very soft and the trail was well covered. We met up with Rory for this run and he ripped it up. At Gadzoom I opted to cut over to West Second South for a change of pace and it tasted pretty nice...groomed powder with nobody on it. After this we grabbed a burger and beer and called it quits. My wife and I headed to the Cliff, hit the pool and tub, and then picked up our little one from daycare and had a nice supper at El Chanate.
A nice start to the season.
Some pics form the first day...The author:
The Mrs:
And our friend Toni:
Dates: November 17, 2012
Conditions: 30" base, MG/PP/FG
Weather: Cloudy with rain/snow showers at the base; snow above Mid-Gad lodge, temps in the 30's.
Report No: 1
It begins. This year the season snuck up on me as it always does. We left the house...and returned...and left again because we forgot something. You all know how it is on the first day.
We got to Creekside and found a temp of 42 F and some light snow/sprinkles. Before getting on the lift, it turned to all sprinkles at the base (7700 feet or so) and I wisely switched to Gore Tex hard shell. My wife was in hers as well. We both stayed dry and warm while our friend was a bit soggy in her soft shell.
First run off of Gadzoom was down Bassackwards. The cover was noticeably better than last season at this time and the trails were holding up well. On one run we rode up with a snowcat operator that told us that he had been busy during the summer installing new snowmaking equipment and helping with the new Little Cloud HSQ. He said that they had added another pump and bought some new fan guns and other equipment. For whatever reason they had not said a word about these improvements.
After his comment, I noticed that on Gad Valley alone that they had twice as many fan guns running as last season and a few new ones in the mix. Next run was down Lunch Run, which was pretty well covered as well but had a chokepoint right after Regulator Gully where a fan gun was working its magic. As is the case with early season, we rotated between Lunch Run and Bassackwards as those were the two groomers open off of Gadzoom...natural runs though covered were still bony.
We decided to head over for a tram run and opted to hit Regulator Johnson. The visibility was low, but the snow was very soft and the trail was well covered. We met up with Rory for this run and he ripped it up. At Gadzoom I opted to cut over to West Second South for a change of pace and it tasted pretty nice...groomed powder with nobody on it. After this we grabbed a burger and beer and called it quits. My wife and I headed to the Cliff, hit the pool and tub, and then picked up our little one from daycare and had a nice supper at El Chanate.
A nice start to the season.
Some pics form the first day...The author:
The Mrs:
And our friend Toni:
Last edited:
